The NFL has tried warnings. It has handed down massive fines. Now Jerry Jones is going after his own players financially. Yet the brawls at joint practices keep happening.

Speaking on the Nightcap podcast, former NFL players Shannon Sharpe, Chad Johnson and Joe Johnson discussed the fallout. Joe Johnson, an avid Cowboys fan, understood why Jones wanted to hold the players responsible but questioned whether the league can realistically stop these incidents.

“Hey, man, listen, ain't nothing but a little brawl,” Johnson said. “But how do you stop that, man? It's a gladiator sport.”

The league had already warned all 32 teams before training camp about unsportsmanlike behavior at joint practices. Tuesday's session in Oxnard showed just how difficult those warnings can be to enforce once tempers flare.

Speaking on the Nightcap podcast on August 21, the comments came after several separate incidents stopped practice. Saints tight end Brock Rechsteiner body-slammed safety Jalen Thompson, while center Erik McCoy threw a helmet, and Cowboys defender Donovan Ezeiruaku punched McCoy.

Ezeiruaku was removed for the second time during training camp. Jones said the Cowboys would fine the players responsible, a move allowed under the collective bargaining agreement.

The Cowboys owner also plans to appeal the NFL's $500,000 fine, according to Katherine Terrell of ESPN.

But the bigger issue is whether punishment can actually serve as a deterrent. That's where the Nightcap discussion took an interesting turn, with Joe Johnson offering a simple explanation for why these incidents are so difficult to eliminate.

Chad Johnson believes hitting players' pockets could deter NFL practice fights

Chad Johnson saw the problem differently. If football's intensity makes some fights difficult to prevent, he believes there is still one thing that can make players think twice: their money.

“How are you going to stop it? They showed you how they were going to stop it,” Chad said. “We are going to take the one thing that they think we all value most, your money. You hit somebody's pocket, Joe. What's the first thing they do? They get in line.”

His argument is straightforward. The league can fine a franchise, but taking money from the players involved could make the consequences feel much more immediate. Jones' decision to fine Cowboys players gives that argument an interesting real-world test.

That leaves the NFL with two competing realities. Players are being told to control themselves, and teams are being punished when they don't. Yet, as Johnson's “gladiator sport” argument suggests, the league is trying to police an environment built around controlled aggression in the first place.

The Cowboys and Saints will meet again on August 28, this time in a preseason game rather than a joint practice. By then, the fines will have been handed down, and the message will be clear.

Whether that message is strong enough to prevent the next joint-practice brawl is something the NFL still has to prove.

Written by

Evince Das

Edited by

Rudra Dubey